SAUDIS FIND THEIR VOICE ON INTERFAITH DIALOGUE

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 04 RIYADH 001270

SIPDIS

DEPT PASS TO NEA/ARP FOR BMCGRATH

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/09/2018
TAGS: ASEC CIA EU EUN KDEM KISL KMDR KPAO PGOV
PHUM, PREL, PTER, SA, SP
SUBJECT: SAUDIS FIND THEIR VOICE ON INTERFAITH DIALOGUE

REF: A. RIYADH 1209 (NOTAL)

B. RIYADH 1218

C. RIYADH 1170

D. RIYADH 1162

E. RIYADH 1133

F. RIYADH 1090

G. RIYADH 1070

H. RIYADH 1035

I. NEW YORK 555

J. MADRID 799

RIYADH 00001270 001.2 OF 004


Classified By: Charge' d'Affaires Michael Gfoeller for
reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (S/NF) SUMMARY: Public opinion on religious tolerance in
Saudi Arabia continues to develop in the wake of King
Abdullah bin Abdulaziz's Madrid Conference on Interfaith
Dialogue. Senior SAG officials railed against the USG's lack
of public support after the Conference concluded.
Conservative Saudis see the Conference as serving the West's
interests, but not the Kingdom's. Moderates remain positive,
signaling that the King may have successfully nudged a large
swath of public opinion his direction. The King's image as a
proponent of tolerance is weakened by the lack of religious
freedom in Saudi Arabia. Attention now turns to the proposed
special UN session on dialogue, requested by King Abdullah
and called for in the Madrid Conference declaration. END
SUMMARY

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SAUDI FRUSTRATION WITH LACK OF USG RESPONSE
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2. (S/NF) Saudi Ambassador to the U.S. Adel al-Jubeir had
previously expressed great disappointment at the absence of
any high-level USG endorsement or public statement on the
initiative on the part of the White House or the Department
(Reftel A). Al-Jubeir had relayed his comments to the
Charge' from Morocco where he was vacationing with the King.
The Charge' and Ambassador Al-Jubeir were discussing the Taif
Christians (Reftel B) when Al-Jubeir asked, "Why press us on
this and refuse to acknowledge when we do the right thing in
Madrid?" Al-Jubeir emotionally noted that he found the lack
of public USG support for the King's initiative in support of
inter-religious tolerance difficult to comprehend, since the
point of the dialogue was to "advance the agenda the U.S. has
always been advocating" and "to promote your values." He
emphasized that the U.S. has been pressuring the Saudis for
years to take these steps. Now the King had appeared in
front of the world and his countrymen to do exactly what the
U.S. wanted him to do, but had not received any public USG
support.


3. (S/NF) In a separate discussion the same day between
Riyadh Pol Counselor and a senior Saudi MFA official, this
same criticism of lack of USG support for the Interfaith
Dialogue was again repeated. The MFA official added that the
King wanted the next step in this initiative to be a special
session on religious tolerance at the United Nations (Reftels
I, J) and hoped the USG would actively support and
participate with the SAG to have this session convened.

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CONSERVATIVES NOT SWAYED
--------------


4. (S/NF) Some Saudis reject outright King Abdullah's
interaction with any other religious leader, regardless of
the faith. Others accept as legitimate the King's public
engagement with leaders of the other monotheistic religions
(Judaism and Christianity),but oppose dialogue with Hindu or

RIYADH 00001270 002.2 OF 004


Buddhist leaders, who are considered heathens. Many Saudis
view the initiative as a ploy to appease the West,
particularly the United States. A Saudi contributor to the
Aafaq news web site (www.aafaq.com) published an article
stating that "King Abdullah's meeting Buddhists and Hindus
does not please religious clerics as they consider them
pagan." The site Islam Today (www.islamtoday.net)
concentrated on the invitation of Jewish rabbis, quoting a
Saudi official as saying only rabbis from outside Israel
would be invited. A conservative Saudi expressed his fear
that, were a similar conference held in the Kingdom, Israelis
would be invited. A Saudi female in the education field
described the Interfaith Dialogue as "only another attempt by
the Kingdom to please the U.S. and to cleanse itself of the
accusations of terrorism and extremism."


5. (S/NF) A Jeddah-based Shiite scholar, who himself praised
the SAG's "new approach" as "a good idea," shared views on
conservative resistance. The scholar relayed comments by
what he called a well-known conservative radio journalist.
The journalist stated that the only way to deal with Muslims
from other sects, or people from other religions, is for them
to convert and become Muslims "like them" (i.e. Sunnis of the
Wahabi tradition). Per the scholar, the journalist
criticized those participating in the Madrid conference,
calling them "liars" and "not good Muslims." The scholar
said the Saudis need help to stop this type of thinking, and
added that he does not yet see any change in Saudi society.


6. (C) Moderate Saudis continue to support the King, but
without the vigor displayed by conservative opponents.
Posters identifiable as Saudis commented on an Al-Jazeera
article praising the King. "Dialogue is very necessary and
it is concordant with God's words," wrote one. Another
posting struck at the heart of Saudi Arabia's credibility,
asking, "Does this conference mean that if a Buddhist or
Hindu promoted his religion in Saudi Arabia, it would be
allowable or would he be arrested? I think this is hypocricy
because there is no religious freedom in Saudi Arabia."

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MEDIA COVERAGE CONTINUES
--------------


7. (C) Media analysis of the Interfaith Dialogue held in
Madrid on July 16 continues, even though the event occurred a
month ago. On August 10, the moderate Arabic-language daily
Al-Watan published an op-ed by Umaimah Ahmad Jalahimah, a
female advisor to Shoura Council. In promoting the Madrid
Conference, Ms. Jalahimah purports that the meeting was "not
a submissive response to a call from the West," but instead
was "inspired from our Holy Qur'an that encourages us to
negotiate with followers of other religions." The
Saudi-funded weekly Al-Majalla, a London-based pan-Arab news
magazine, covered the Madrid Conference extensively in its
August 3rd edition. The article quotes a range of credible
Islamic leaders. The King's supporters reiterated the
official message. "The conference puts one of the basic
concepts in Islam, dialogue, into effect," stated Dr. Hasan
Al-Ahdal of the Saudi-based World Muslim League.


8. (S/NF) Not all media opinion was fit to print. A writer
and contributor to the newspaper Al-Bilad recounted an
attempt to submit a story on the Madrid Conference. In his
article, he criticized leaders of the conservative Islamic
community, citing the Saudi Judiciary head Salih Al-Haidan
(strictly protect) for not attending the Interfaith Dialogue.
The writer argued that good Muslims support their government
and in choosing to not attend the Conference, they were
opposing the King's initiative and setting forth a bad
example for Muslims in the Kingdom. However, he stated that

RIYADH 00001270 003.2 OF 004


the paper's editor-in-chief refused without explanation to
publish the article. He added that many Saudis consider the
dialogue a good idea but do not believe it is feasible to
implement within the country.

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INTERFAITH DIALOGUE AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
--------------


9. (S/NF) The Australian DCM in Riyadh provided Pol Counselor
a copy of a confidential cable sent to Canberra, titled
"Saudi Arabia: Religious Tolerance: Madrid Inter-Faith
Dialogue." The Australians conclude that the Madrid
Conference demonstrated the King's opposition to extremism
and portrayed "a more sympathetic and tolerant Saudi Arabia
to the world and especially to its key ally, the United
States." The Australians conclude that the lack of religious
freedom in the Kingdom will undermine the credibility of the
Interfaith Dialogue.


10. (S/NF) The Australian cable also details insight provided
to the Australians by Bishop Paul Hinder (strictly protect),
the Roman Catholic Bishop for the Gulf Region, who is based
in Abu Dhabi and attended the Madrid Conference. Bishop
Hinder was present in November 2007 when King Abdullah raised
the idea of an interfaith dialogue with the Pope. According
to this cable, the Pope responded favorably, but stressed
that the dialogue should be matched with increased religious
freedom in Saudi Arabia. The King did not reply to this
point. Subsequent to this meeting, the Pope decided that the
Roman Catholic Church would participate in the dialogue, but
would not endorse it or jointly sponsor it without an
improvement in religious freedom for Christians in Saudi
Arabia. Bishop Hinder delivered this message to the Saudis
in April, 2008.

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COMMENT
--------------


11. (S/NF) The Saudis' rebuke for lack of USG response came
as a surprise. Based on the conversation with Al-Jubeir, we
are sure that he was relaying the views of King Abdullah.
The same message was delivered by another Saudi official on
the same day. From this we conclude that King Abdullah is
disappointed with the lack of public USG support and feels
left out on a limb, with the U.S. offering nothing in return.
The MFA official implied that the SAG wanted, or rather
expected, USG support for a special session on religious
tolerance at the UN.


12. (S/NF) The King's initiative has exposed him to
significant political risks. Religious conservatives argue
that he went too far; international observers criticize
everything from the conference's location to its invitees.
Al-Qaeda has renewed its death threats against him. In Saudi
Arabia, the Interfaith Dialogue initiative has prompted a
minor backlash. On June 5, SAG authorities in Eastern
Province closed three Shia mosques at the same time the Mecca
interfaith conference was being convened (Reftel G). An
influential Saudi prince opined that the attempted
deportation of sixteen Indian Christians (Reftel B) could
have been carried out by those angered by the King's moves
towards greater religious tolerance. Reinforcing this point
is the fact that al-Qaeda called for the King's death shortly
after the Madrid Conference concluded (Reftel C). We
interpret these moves to mean that the King has struck the
right chord, successfully challenging the paradigms of
moderates and conservatives alike.


13. (S/NF) Despite the many criticisms, Saudis stand by the

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King and support his political balancing act. King Abdullah
faces a challenge in implementing the provisions of the
Madrid Conference Declaration (Reftel J). The King is
already pushing the idea of a special UN session on dialogue,
and the Saudis may seek further U.S. help to accomplish this.
Further tangible actions will show skeptical Saudis that the
Interfaith Dialogue is more than just appeasement to the West.
GFOELLER